Bad bus behavior irks parents

Thursday

Picture the scene on a typical morning as thousands in the Wachusett Regional School district arrive at school.

They cut in front of one another, ignore safety rules, won't wait their turn, yell at bus drivers and even give adults the finger.

And those are just the parents.

Bad behavior, both by kids on school buses and parents who drive their children to school, is getting out of hand, according to several parents who addressed the school committee Monday night.

"I'm concerned with bus safety and the way parents drive," said Holden parent Stacey Jackson. She's seen parents deliberately drive into the bus-only driveway rather than wait in line to use the cars-only lane, and then pass buses and special education vans that are stopped and discharging passengers, red lights flashing.

She's worried about a child getting hit, and asked the administration to direct principals to send out letters to parents explaining bus protocol.

Catherine Roberts of Holden said she'd like to see monitors on school buses to prevent student bullying. "Some kids are crying as they get off the bus," she said, including her own son after two students ripped up his art project. "It's stressful for a number of kids," she said. "I want to advocate for the kids on the bus, and for the drivers."

Rutland parent Lisa Morgan drives a special education van to Davis Hill School in Holden. She suggests that principals or their traffic coordinator wear an orange vest.

"Parents really need to pay attention," she said.

School Committee Chair Margaret Watson said the issue of bus safety has come up in the past two years, and was referred to the Education Subcommittee. She said the district has an excellent policy on bullying, but incidents need to be reported to the principals. She said bus drivers are not district employees, and so they may or may not report incidents to building principal.

Education Subcommittee Chair Cynthia Bazinet said her committee has asked administrators about bus complaints from parents. She said one or two principals say they've had some incidents and are working on them, while one or two deny any problems.

She said committee members discussed using cameras but decided that would result in varying degrees of success because they would only pick up overt bullying, whereas the more subtle forms not picked up on film can be more damaging to children. Monitors would be costly, she said.

No effort to remedy the problem is getting off the ground, Bazinet said, but "we're perfectly willing to wrap our arms around a solution."

He said he has no problem looking at each building's drop-off routine and have police make traffic suggestions.

"Some people do reckless things, crazy things, they know they're not supposed to do," he said. "They do flip off the school bus drivers - it's terrible."

Pandiscio said it's like posting "Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted" signs in stores, which is unnecessary for most people because good people do not shoplift.

As for on-bus safety, he said the district has looked at the idea of monitors and cameras.

The committee referred the issue back to the Education Subcommittee, who will have the administration do a school-by-school review.

Other business

• Holden parent Daniel Pacek complained about students smoking in the high school bathrooms. Noting that state law provides for a $300 fine, he asked the WRSDC what it intends to do about it. Pacek said if the committee does nothing, his next step is to go to the board of health, and then to the police.

• The committee approved a motion to seek town meeting approval to borrow up to $2 million for the Jefferson School oil leak clean-up. In January 2007, an underground tank failed and leaked 9,000 gallons of heating oil, whose recovery could take approximately eight years.

• The committee approved the 2008-09 school calendar. Labor Day is Monday, September 1 this year. School will begin September 3. There will be no school on election day, Tuesday, November 4, in anticipation of voter traffic at the schools used as polling places. The day will be an in-service day for teachers only.